ot go into the village at
once. When about a mile from the lake, He hid his family in the woods
and then proceeded to approach the town. Soon he observed on the left
side of the town a house from which a number of men were taking
something to a vessel. Approaching them immediately he was asked
whether or not he desired to work. He promptly replied in the
affirmative and it was not long before he was assisting them in
loading corn. He soon contrived to get in line next to the only Negro
there engaged and communicated to him his plans.[4]

He told the captain, who called Henson aside and agreed to assist him
in getting to Buffalo, the boat's destination, where the fugitives
would find friends. It was agreed that the vessel should leave the
landing and that a small boat should take the fugitives aboard at
night, as there were Kentucky spies in Sandusky that might apprehend
them. Henson said he watched the vessel leave the landing and then
lower a boat for the shore and in a few minutes his black friend and
two sailors landed and went with him to get his family. Thinking that
he had been captured his wife had grown despondent and had moved from
the spot where he left her. With a little difficulty, he found her,
but when she saw him approaching with those men, she was still more
frightened. She was reassured, however, and soon they were received on
board in the midst of hearty cheers. They arrived at Buffalo the next
evening too late to cross the river. The following morning they were
brought to Burnham and went on the ferry boat to Waterloo. The good
Captain Burnham paid the passage money and gave Henson a dollar
beside. They arrived in Canada on the 28th day of October, 1830.
Describing his exultation Henson said: "I threw myself on the ground,
rolled in the sand, seized handfuls of it and kissed them, and danced
round till, in the eyes of several who were present, I passed for a
madman. 'He's some crazy fellow,' said a Colonel Warren, who happened
to be there. 'O, no, master! don't you know? I'm free!' He burst into
a shout of laughter. 'Well I never knew freedom make a man roll in the
sand in such a fashion,' Still I could not control myself. I hugged
and kissed my wife and children, and, until the first exuberant burst
of feeling was over, went on as before."

He soon found employment there with one Mr. Hibbard, whom he served
three years and was lodged in a cabin better than that in Kentucky.
His family, however, had